To Love Again
by cullenbabe
Summary: Bella lost her beloved fiance, Jake, to a car accident. Devastated and lost, she withdraws into a world of loneliness and isolation. Handsome Edward moves next door and charms his way into her heart. Can she open up love again?


A/N: This will have only a few chapters. Hope you'll enjoy it!

I don't claim to own the characters. Ms Meyer does.

**---------------**

**CHAPTER I**

"Stooop!!! Stooop it, Jake!" I shrieked, laughing, squirming on the floor while struggling so hard from my boyfriend's merciless tickling. The muscles under my ribs were already hurting, tears ran down from my eyes from too much laughter.

"Noooo way, sweetheart! I told you you were going to pay for it. Nobody messes with Jacob Black's hair and gets away with it," his husky, gruff voice whispered very closely, intimately into my ear. Suddenly, his fingers ceased its ruthless attacks, his touch became purposefully gentle and seductive on my torso. The onslaught over, my body stilled under him, running my hands through his dark hair now sticky with some maple syrup that I playfully smeared into it. We were lazily eating pancakes in the living room, on the couch while watching Saturday morning cartoons.

"Your hair, Mr. Black, looks so much better with maple syrup," I quipped, giving him a noisy smack on the lips.

Looking deeply into his eyes, I witnessed the shift from humor to desire. A slow, almost evil grin appeared on his face as he bent his head down to capture my lips into a heated, passionate kiss. My stomach fluttered with excitement and lust, my heart nervously thudded along with it. I reached behind him, running my fingers over his toned muscular back, then urging him forward to me to deepen our kisses. As laughter subsided, new, intense emotions surfaced between us, heating up, engulfing us in fierce flames. Our bodies showed each other what our hearts felt. The moment was so beautiful, so powerful, so poignant it brought tears to our eyes.

Moments later, we lay on the carpeted floor where we indulged in childish play before moving on to "adult play", sated, at the same time blessed with an amazing opportunity to proficiently express our love for each other in a physical manner.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?"

"What did I ever do to deserve this much happiness in my life?"

I looked up at him silently, my forehead creasing with the question in my mind.

"I'm so happy with you. You make my life so beautiful and complete," he whispered, reverently kissing me on the forehead, eyes, cheeks and then finally settling on my lips that constantly craved his. "I love you so much, Bella."

Tears sprang into my eyes again as I heard the genuine devotion, the truth of his words as he uttered them. My heart swelled with joy as it recognized that it reciprocates the exact sentiments that it heard.

"I feel the same way, Jake. You make me so happy, too. I've never loved any man as I love you."

The silence that followed blessed our confession of love. These was almost a touch of magic in the air surrounding us as we caressed each other, each one marveling at the purity of the emotions, of the miracle staring back at us.

"Bella?" he asked again.

"Yes, sweetie?" I whispered quietly.

"Would you be my wife, please?"

And without a second to waste, I said "Yes".

---------

_This is the day! I can not wait any minute longer to be Mrs. Jacob Black_, I nervously thought as I bit on my perfectly-manicured index finger. I stiffly sat on the chair while the make-up artist applied the final touches of cosmetics on my face.

"Bella, please stop doing that. You'll ruin your nails, honey!" my mom, Renee, reminded me sharply, pulling my hand away from my punishing teeth.

"I'm so nervous, Mom. Can't help it," I said, jiggling my knees this time. "I think I'm gonna pee… or throw up. Or both!"

She giggled as she bent down to look me squarely in the eye. "Getting cold feet?"

I drew away quickly, hurt showing in my eyes. Is she kidding?!

"Are you kidding?! I've never been more sure of anything in my life, Mom! Jake's it for me. I'm gonna marry him. Cold feet?!! Hah!" I almost shouted, indignant that my mom would even think that. She knows EXACTLY how I feel about Jake. Doubt's not a word she should even bring up at this time. "I just want to get out of here, run to him, say our "I dos" already and walk off into the sunset with him, Mom! An hour seems too long. Is it possible to start the wedding in 10 minutes? I'm almost ready, right?" I asked Tara, the make-up artist. She just gave me an indulgent nod and a sweet, rueful smile. She must be so used to dealing with brides like me. "Call everybody up, Mom. Tell them we can start in 10 minutes. No! 20 minutes! 30 minutes tops!" I almost pleaded.

"Hon, breathe!" she said in a coaxing voice, holding my hands in hers, massaging them gently to relax me as she always did when I was a child. I instantly felt calm and at the same time weepy as I remembered how sweet a mother she is to me.

"I know how you feel but everything's in place, another hour of waiting won't hurt you, okay?"

As I nodded, my cellphone started to ring. My eyes lit up as the ringtone gave away the identity of my caller. I excitedly motioned for my mom to hand to me the gadget on the snack table which was just at her arm's reach.

"Hi, wifey!" Jake's deep voice said into the earpiece. A delicious thrill ran through me.

"Hi," I breathed into the phone, releasing a breath of contentment to hear my soon-to-be husband's voice.

"I'll see you at the altar in… 56 minutes, Bella. I can't wait to make you my wife."

I sighed deeply again, a smile that never wavered still stretched my glossy lips. "Oh, Jake. I love you so much. I can't wait to see you, to be your wife. I was telling Mom if we can do this 30 minutes ahead of schedule. How about it?"

He laughed out loud at my silliness. "Feel the same way, sweetheart, but I think everybody would feel less panicked if we did this as planned. Imagine how Alice's going to freak out if we told her we're slightly modifying her plans for today." Oh yes, the little tyrant would definitely go berserk. She acted more like she's the one getting married today when she launched into the task of coordinating the wedding. How I pity the guy she's going to marry someday. She's definitely going to be one monster of a bride -- a bridezilla!

"Gotta go now, Bella. I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay. I love you, Jake. So much."

"I love you so very much, too, Bella. With all my heart," he said, his tone so serious this time it almost moved me to tears.

I ended the call, almost unwilling to hear his voice. I had absolutely no idea that was going to be his last phone call, the last time I was going to hear his beautiful, loving voice, the last time I was going to hear him say, "I Love You, Bella". For in the hour that followed, my world came crashing down.

---------

"I don't understand what's keeping him, Mom. Does he think this is funny?" I nervously paced around the hotel room, my nails a terrible mess now. The ceremony was supposed to start in ten minutes. Alice came up a few minutes ago announcing to me that Jake was nowhere to be found. He wouldn't answer his phone. He spent the night at his parents house, a fifteen minute drive from here. I insisted that he check in with me the day before the wedding but he said that he wanted to sleep on his bed, the one he's had since he was a child (and where we had our "first time" together). He's a very sweet and sentimental guy so I understood that. Plus, I reminded him that it was bad luck for couples to see each other on the wedding day. And well, he also explained that being in the same hotel with me the night before our wedding just might be too difficult a challenge for him. What can I say? My fiance has the hots for me (and I for him)! So, we both agreed that this would be the best arrangement for us; but now, I'm beginning to question the wisdom in that. It would be so good for my peace of mind right now if he only spent the night here in the hotel, with me, in the same room, on the same bed. Who believes in silly superstitions anymore anyway? Unfortunately, well, I did. And now I want to bang my head against the wall… hard. _Where is Jake? _I screamed in my head, starting to freak out.

A few minutes after, I got my answer. It wasn't good.

"Bella… Please sit down, I'm going to tell you something," my mom gently said, almost whispering, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

I felt a cold chill run down my spine and spread through my body, my mouth felt suddenly dry, my extremities numb as my heart hammered away in my chest.

"It's Jake. He's met an accident. He's…. gone," my mom finally said, her face crumpling with emotion, her voice sounded weak and tortured.

"Gone? Why… would he go? Without taking me with him?" I asked suddenly confused, totally feeling a sudden disconnect from my body.

"He's gone, Bella. He's… Jake's… Jake's… dead."

I was dumbfounded.

"It's a mistake! You're lying! Why would you lie to me like that!" I hollered, totally losing it, fighting the strong urge to hurt my mother for saying something so devastating to me. "Mom! Take that back! Take it back!" but she was shaking her head while crying. I suddenly heard a wailing so gut wrenching, so filled with pain that it took a while before I realized it came from me. "Nooooooo!!!! Nooooooooo!!!! Jaaake! Jaaaake!!!" I screamed, tearing my veil painfully from it's intricate weave into my hair. My knees gave as I crumpled to the floor in a sea of white lace and gauzy cloth. Soft, comforting arms held me while I cried but I was oblivious to anything around me. Only the breaking of my heart, the shattering of my dreams were at the fore. Grief viciously attacked me with a pain so intense, my mind couldn't cope with it. It took over me as blackness stepped forward and embraced me into its arms.


End file.
